Machine



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. H... BLISS. MINING, MACHINE.

Patented June Z,2, 1 897.

Model 5 SheetsSheet 2 H H BLISS v MINING MACHINE.

No. 585,018. Patented June 22,1897.

Q q bbvwoow I 5 1 (No Model.)

H. H. BLISS.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

MINING MACHINE. No. 585,018.

Patented June 22, 1897.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheeti H. H. BLISS. MINING MAGHINB.

No. 585,018. Patented June 22,1897.

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Wz'inasses:

5 SheetsSheet 5. H. H. BLISS.

MINING MACHINE.

Patented June 22,1897;

NITE STATES 1 ATENT Fries.

HENRY H. BLISS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

MINING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,018, dated June 22,1897.

Application filed January 8, 1894:. Serial No. 496,159. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. BLISS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washiugton, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Mining-Machin es and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a mining-machine embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a section on line onm, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectionon line 2 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a rear View. Fig. '7 is a longitudinalsection on line .2 z, Fig. 1. Fig. Sis a crosssection on line a 00, Fig.2, showing the fieldcoils covered. Fig. 9 is a plan view of theclutch-shifting devices. Fig. 10 is a section of the devices thatactuate the cleaner-chains. Fig. 11 is a cross-section corresponding toFig. 8, except that the cores of the magnets are continuous from side toside. Fig. 12 is a central longitudinal section of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is aView on the line was of Fig. 5 of a portion of the machine.

In the drawings, A A represent the bars of a bed-frame of the kindcommon in machines of this sort. This frame has ways in which aremounted the sliding bars B B of a cuttercarrying frame. These slidingbars project forward and carry the cutter-bar O in bearings at 0. Behindthe cutter-bar they carry a shaft or support D, which holds the deviceswhich carry back the cuttings or slack. At the rear of the movable partof the machine is mounted the power mechanism.

E represents a plate extending across from one side bar to the other andbolted thereto. As shown, it droops at e and has a depressed portion 6.Upon this rest and through it are bolted the bottom cores F F of partsof the field-magnets Upon the upper ends of these cores F F rests thebar G. At the center it is provided with a bearing for thearmature-shaft. On the upper side of the bar G rest the upper cores F F,and upon the upper ends of these cores rests the top piece E. The partsE E constitute the pole-pieces of the electric engine, the lower oneserving as a carriage-plate and the upper serving as a cover for theother parts. They are bolted together and also fastened to the cores andto the bar G by means of either through-bolts H, with heads h at thebottom and nuts h at the top, said bolts passing entirely through thecores and bar G, or they are fastened by shorter bolts extending fromthe top and the bottom into the cross-bar G, it having threaded socketsto receive them.

. The center cores F F are somewhat shorter than the side cores F F,because of their being adjacent to the bearings and the cap, and henceshorter bolts, such as at H, are necessary. By referring to the drawingsit will be seen that there are two sets of these cores F F, one in frontof the armature and the other in the rear. The armature is representedas a whole by 1 There are coils of wire at'i around the core 2", securedto a brass hub 2' The hub is secured to the hollow shaft 1, extendingrearward, and the solid shaft I, extending forward, the lat-ter beingmounted in the front bar G and the former in the rear. The hollow shaft1 terminates in a flaring flange 1 The hub is provided with perforationsZ through which pass the connections for the commutator, saidconnections also passing through the hollow shaft 1. Shaft I carries thecommutator at the rear end.

J is a worm at the front end of the shaft engaging with the worm-wheelJ, secured to shaft J mounted on the carriage. This shaft hassprocket-teeth at J 3 which engage with the main drive-chain L, whichextends out to and actuates thecutter-bar G. This shaft J rotates in thedirection indicated by the arrow, so that the upper part of chain Lmoves backward,and consequently the cutter-bar so turns as to outupwardly. This, as is well known, is advantageous in that it holds thefront end of the machine down. When it is rotated in the oppositedirection, the reaction tends to elevate the machine, but it has beenimpossible heretofore to turn the cutter-bar in this way by a directchain connection, as the drive-chain has carried so much of the slack orcuttings inward that a path could not be formed for the sliding parts. Iovercome this difficulty as follows: On shaft J 2 ICO there is aspur-wheel is engaging with wheel 7.: on cross-bar or shaft K. Thisshaft K has a sleeve K, to which is fastened or with which is formed thewheel 7t and sprocket-toothed wheels L k The cross-bar K is fastened tothe carriage. The sleeve can be mounted thereon in any suitable way, oreven mounted upon another support. As shown, it is held in place by acollar and set-screw 7& Sprockets k 762 are connected to thecleaner-shaftD by chains (Z (Z.

By examining the drawings it will be seen that hollow shaft K revolvesoppositely to the shaft J and hence the chains (Z (Z move oppositely tothe chain L-that is to say, while the under part of the chain L movesinward or toward the cutter-bar C the lower parts of the chains (1 (Zmove outward, scraping the floor of the cut and therefore carryingoutward the cuttings. Of these chains (1 (1 there may be as many as isdesired between the side bars of the frame. I have shown two, one beingcomparatively close to the large chain L. Then on the outside there aretwo cleanerehains cl (1', driven by-shaft D at the front end and at therear supported on chain-wheels D in brackets D, which are bolted to themotor.

The bar K, by means of set-screws K is also utilized as an abutment foradjusting the motor back on the carriage-frame to put it in properposition and to keep the drivechain L at proper tension.

lVith devices of this character I can produce an upward out of thecutter-bar driven directly by the chain, and at the same time caneffectively scrape the bottom of the floor by outward-moving devices andavoid the use of the intermediate shafts and gear-wheels or chains thathave been heretofore used behind the cutter-bar.

In order to move the carriage forward and back on the bed, I employ aworm M behind the motor, en gaging with a worm-wheel M on the shaft MThe shaft M is transverse to and above the arn'iature-shaft I. It ismounted in diamagnetic bearing-plates m m, which are bolted to the toppiece E and to the rear bearing-bar G. Preferably they are made ofbrass, so there shall be no magnetic circuit through them. Shaft Mcarries a worm m and a bevel-wheel m \Vorm m engages with a worm-wheelN, secured to a shaft N. At the lower end of the shaft there is anotherworm N turning worm-wheel O, loose on the cross-shaft O. Shaft O ismounted in beariu gs at O on the carriage, and at the ends has pinions Omeshing with racks a on the bed. 0 is a clutch feathered to the shaft 0.Then engaging with wheel 0, the latter, through the clutch, rotates pinions O in such way as to advance the carriage.

Bevel-wheel m on shaft M meshes with bevel-wheel I on shaft P, thelatter having at the lower end a worm 1, which drives worm-wheel O,loose on shaft 0 and adapted to engage with clutch O Vheels O and 0"turn in opposite directions, the former fast and the latter slow. ShaftsN I are mounted in bearing brackets or standards more or less similar toeach other, one of them being indicated by N, Fig. 2, and which arebolted to the downwardly-extending brass or (liamagnetic plates m m.

The eommutator-brushes Q Q are supported by a carrier q, secured to anadjustable ring Q inside the commutator. As shown, it is bolted to somepart of the motor, as to the bearing-stand N or P, or both. This avoidsthe necessity of a surrounding frame to carry the brush-holder.

The clutch O is actuated as follows: R is a shaft having at the top along lever R, and I have shown it in front of the motor, such positionbeing desirable, as the lever can be so arranged as not to project outlaterally. At the lower end of this shaft there is a short crank-arm r,and to this is connected a link 0". The link extends backward under themotor and is connected to another crank 0' which is secured to a rockingtoothed part r This engages with a sliding rack r held in a guide on thebottom of the motor and provided with a rearward-projecting finger rwhich engages with eluteh 0 Heretofore much trouble has been experiencedin operating mining-machines of this sort when actuated by air-enginesfrom the fact that the radius of the sprocket-wheels on the cutter-baris very short and the application of power thereto by the chains isvariable. Two alternatelyacting engines have been employed on eachmachine, their pistons moving at a high rate of speed, the blows andvibrations being verydisadvantageous, causing the machine to move aboutwith violent jerks when at work. Much of the power exerted by theengines is wasted in these movements of the machine, and precautionshave to be taken to hold them to their work, use being made of severalscrew-jacks.

\Vith a machine of the character of the herein described, this is almostentirely obviated, as the parts of the electric engine are so arrangedthat there is great steadiness and all of the power generated can beapplied to the cutters without wastage in moving the machine aboutbodily.

It will be seen that I employ a continuouslymoving cutting apparatus,continuously-rotating gearing, a chain for imparting power to thecutters, and a continueusly-rotating prime power-shaft, so that a smoothand uniform action is maintained throughout all of the parts and thejerking and reactionary thrusts incident to machines with reciprocatingengines are prevented.

I restrict the present case to the matters of novelty incident to theconstruction and ar rangement of the motor, its armature, the gearingfor transmitting power from the in otor to the carriage and to thecutter-chain, as set forth in the following claims.

An electric motor of substantially the eharacter shown provides animportant feature which cannot be practically employed with the enginesheretofore used arranged to apply intermittingimpulses of power to acrankshaft that is to say, I can employ the force of momentum to theinitial power-shaft or armature-shaft, so that it acts as a fiy-wheel,the great weight incident to an armature developing from twelve totwenty horse-power giving it the character of a flywheel, so that notonly is the initial application of the power continuous, smooth, anduniform, but, moreover, I enable the cutters (moving, as above stated,on a short radius, and therefore very sensitive to an increase inresistance) to revolve uniformly and to cut through materials which atone moment may be hard and of high resistance and at the next soft andof low resistance. None of these ends can be attained with theair-engine machines without the addition of special supplemental parts,and, as is well known, it is absolutely necessary with these machinesthat they should be as light as possible and as simple as they can bemade and compact in their arrangement.

As I have filed another application wherein are presented generic claimsrelating to the peculiar features of operation incident to having anelectric motor secured directly to the carriage in fixed relationsthereto and to the cutting apparatus when said motor is constructed todrive the cutter-actuating chain and the other parts of the gearing andshafting with a smooth and continuous motion by reason of the momentumof the armature, I withdraw from and disclaim in the present case suchmatters-that is to say, I do not herein claim any of the subjects-matterwhich are set forth in the claims in my application, Serial No. 305,797,filed April 2, 1889, or application, Serial No. 482,466, filed as adivision thereof August 5, 1893, or in my application,

Serial No. 222,524, filed September 24, 1886,

patented as No. 545,569, September 3, 1895, or application, Serial No.558,409, filed August 5, 1895, as a division thereof, or in myapplication, Serial No. 400,893, filed July 27, 1891, in which latterthere is shown and described a modified machinehaving the cuttersapplied directly to the chain.

! In the present case I claim merely the features of novelty andusefulness incident to the construction and arrangement hereinpresented, but at the same time I desire to be understood that therecanbe modification, so far as concerns the details of the parts shown andtheir arrangement, without departing directly in front of the motor;having the parts so disposed that a powerful magnetic circuit could beprovided with aminimum of metal, which at the same time serves as themechanical support for the operative parts of the gearing and shafting;having the carriageplate or rear frame or platform arranged so as toserve as part of the said magnetic circuit of the motor, preferablymaking it as one of the pole-pieces; having the feed-racks on the bedelevated relatively to the bottom of the motor, so that the feedingpower can be applied at a relatively high line; having the pinion-shaftwhich moves the carriage arranged transversely behind the motor anddriven by a transverse shaft directly above it; driving the uppertransverse carriage-moving shaft by a simplified worm-gear arrangedcentrally as to said shaft, and having the longitudinal armature-shaftarranged substantially centrally with respect to the worm-gearing andthe carriage-moving mechanism.

Prior to the date of my invention it was well known that thesefront-thrust undercutting-machines employing a chain for transmittingthe power to the line of cut could have the cutters themselves supportedindependently of the chain or attached directly thereto and that thechains could be arranged to move in either vertical planes or horizontalplanes, the rear chain-driving shaft being in some cases horizontal andin other cases vertical, both of which forms of machine are illustratedin numerous earlier patents. I-Ience, as concerns the features of thepresent invention, it is immaterial as to which of these more or lesssimilar styles of chain-actuated cutting apparatus is employed.

WVhat I claim is 1. The combination, in a mining-machine, with the bed,the cutting apparatus, and the carriage therefor, of an electric motorhaving one of its pole-pieces mounted upon the carriage, thechain-driving shaft mounted upon said pole-piece, the gearing foractuating said shaft, and the chain driven thereby and adapted to impartmotion to the cutters, substantially as set forth.

'2. In a mining-machine, the combination with the bed, the cuttingapparatus, and the carriage therefor, having longitudinally-slidingbars, of the electric motor having one of its pole-pieces mounted uponor connected to the said sliding bars of the carriage, said polepiecehaving a longitudinal extension, the

chain-shaft for driving the cutters mounted on the said extension of thepole-piece, and gearing connecting said shaft with the armatureeshaft ofthe electric motor, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mining-machine, the combination with the bed, the cuttingapparatus, and the carriage therefor having longitudinal slid ing bars,the electric motor having one of its magnetic pieces mounted upon orconnected to the said sliding bars of the carriage, the

chain-shaft for driving the cutters, said magnetie piece having anextension rearward from said chain-shaft, a supplemental shaft mountedon said extension for moving the carriage on the bed, and gearingconnecting the carriage-movin g shaft with the armatureshaft of theelectric motor, substantially as set forth.

4. In a front-thrust mining-machine, the combination of the bed-frame,having a guide way, a carriage having sliding bars fitted in theguideway, a cutting apparatus on the carriage arranged to operate at thefront end thereof, a plate or casting at the rear end of the carriageadapted to serve both as a support for shafting and gearing and as partof a magnetic circuit, field-elcctromagnets secured to said magneticplate, and one or more pole-pieces supplemental to said plate andsecured to said magnets, said parts forming a stationary portion of anelectric motor, the armature of said motor connected with the cuttingapparatus, a carriage-moving shaft supported on said plate or castingand having one or more carriage-moving wheels, means on the bed engagingwith said wheels, and means for imparting motion thereto from thearmature-shaft, substantially as set forth.

5. In a froi'it-thrust mining-machine, the combination of the bed-framehaving a guideway, a carriage having sliding bars fitted in theguideway, a cutting apparatus on the carriage and operating at the frontend thereof, a plate or casting at the rear end of the carriage adaptedto serve both as a support for shafting and gearing and as part of amagnetic circuit, field-electromagnets on said magnetic plate, formingthe stationary portion of an electric motor, the armature of said motorarranged longitudinally of the machine, gearing in front of the motorfor driving the cutting apparatus, bearings formed in or secured to thesaid bottom magnetic plate, a transversely-arranged carriage-movingshaft in said bearings, a carriage-moving wheel on said shaft, means onthe bed engaging said wheel, and means actuated by the armature forrotating said shaft, substantially as set forth.

6. In a front-thrust mining-machine, the combination of the bed-frame,the carriage moving forward and back thereon, the cutting apparatus onthe carriage operating at the front end thereof, the racks on the bed,the motor at the rear end of the carriage having its armatnre'shaftconnected to the cutting apparatus, the cross-shaft having pinionsengaging with the said racks, the transverse power-shaft above thepinionshaft and behind the motor, two trains of diiferently-speededgearing extending downward from the upper transverse power-shaft andadapted to connect it to thepinion-shaft, the clutch for alternatelyengaging the upper shaft to the said pinion-shaft through the said twotrains of gearing, and the wormgearing actuated by the armature andconnected to the upper transverse power-shaft, substantially as setforth.

7. The combination of the bed, the carriage, the continuously-actingcutting apparatus at the front end of the carriage, the racks on thebed, the motor at the rear end of the carriage having its armature-shaftin the vertical longitudinal planes of the carriage and connected to thecutting apparatus, the carriage-moving shaft having pinions engagingwith said racks, the upper transverse shaft over the pinion-shaft, thetwo trains of diiferently-speeded gearing between the upper transverseshaft and the pinionshaft, means for connecting and disconnecting thetwo said shafts through the said trains of gearing alternately, theworm-wheel arranged centrally upon the upper transverse shaft, and theworm situated in the longitudinal planes of the carriage and driven bythe armature and engaging said wormwheel, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of the bed, the carriage, the cutting apparatus onthe carriage and operating at the front end thereof, the electric motoron the carriage and arranged on a support which is placed relatively lowin close proximity to the bottom bars of the bed, the rack-bars on thebed rclativelyhigh and at the sides of the motor, the carriagemovingshaft mounted in bearings fixed relatively to the motor-support, thepinions on the said shaft engaging with the racks, the transverse powershaft above the pinionshaft and behind the motor, means for driving theupper power-shaft from the armature of the motor, and gearing extendingdownward from the upper shaft to the pinion-shaft, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY H. BLISS.

\Vitnesses:

WM. H. DE LACY, MARCUS B. MAY.

